224 HEAD AND NECK. 



The fact of a horse being ewe-necked seems to be of 

 no detriment to his speed. It might, however, affect 

 his handiness, on accomit of depriving, to some extent, his 

 rider or driver, as the case may be, of command over him ; 

 and b\^ causing his head to be brought into a direction 

 which might pre^'ent him seeing clearly where he is 

 going. On page 84, et seq., I have discussed at some 

 length the subject of the carriage of a horse's head and neck. 



In saddle-horses, the place where the neck comes 

 out of the chest should be marked ; above, by a slight 

 depression ' in front of the withers ; below, by another 

 depression at the point where the jugular groove meets 

 the chest ; and at each side, it should be nearly flat with 

 neck and shoulder. In cart-horses, the large muscles 

 of the shoulder stand out in prominent relief from the 

 neck, and the dip in front of the withers is either absent 

 or but faintly indicated. Owing to the comparative 

 lightness of the neck in mares and geldings, the union 

 of the neck with the head and trunk is better marked in 

 them, than in entires. 



Mane. — When the mane is in a natural condition 

 (Fig. 306), it falls on both sides of the neck in a more or 

 less evenly distributed manner, and serves as a very effi- 

 cient protection to the neck against the attacks of flies. In 

 this case, the hairs of the mane form a whisk which is set 

 in motion by the horse shaking his head and neck. This 

 instinctive movement is utiUsed by circus men who train 

 horses to answer a question in the negative, by shaking 

 their heads. At first, they take a pin between their 

 fingers, and stick it into the neck of their equine pupil, 

 who, thereupon, instinctively shakes his head. After 

 several repetitions of this annoying lesson, the horse will 

 shake his head, in anticipation of the pin-prick, as soon as 

 the man's hand approaches his neck. To obtain an 

 affirmative answer by the horse bowing his head, all the 

 man has to do, is to use the pin in a similar manner on 



